Comparison of carbon fiber and cesium iodide-coated carbon fiber cathodes

This paper presents results of an experimental comparison of a bare carbon fiber cathode and the same cathode when coated with cesium iodide salt (CsI ), An annular cathode was constructed by arranging carbon fibers in an annu lar tuft pattern. The cathode was then operated as a bare carbon fiber cath ode and in a configuration with a CsI coating. The cathode was tested at el ectric field strengths ranging from 50 kV/cm to 265 kV/cm at anode-cathode (A-K) gaps of 3.175 cm, The applied voltage had a 1-mus duration and the mo dulator was operated at up to 1 Hz repetition rate. The system had a low ba se pressure (<1.0 x 10(-7) torr). This article reports on results concernin g the conditioning of the cathodes, the shot-to-shot reproducibility of the cathodes and the pressure evolution of the diode under 1 Hz operation. We also report on the impedance evolution of each of the diodes.